I am a canner

Hi!

My name is Missy and I am a canner.

It's true.

I've become quite domesticated this fall. Canning was never something that interested me. But ya know, it is kind of satisfying to stand back and look at my beautiful bottles that are going down on my shelf for the winter. Last year I tackled peaches and this year I added apples to my repertoire.

So, what DO you do with a box of apples?

Dried apples, of course.

Ya, that got old after a week. Drying takes a long time.

I tried making apple jelly. I had it once and remember it being so delicious. Well, I learned that jelly can be kind of tricky. It didn't seem to be setting up, so I figured I just needed to boil it longer than the minute the recipe was telling me to. And I was right. It turned out great with a tint of red because I chose the lazy way and didn't peel my red apples.

I made apple pie filling bars for Grandma Leary's 90th birthday party. Oooh la la. They were most excellent. BUT, I've been good this week. I brought leftovers home and haven't had a single one all week.

Today I made apple pie filling while the snow fell, and [tangent coming] can I just tell you how much I've been wanting hot chocolate these past two days. I'm afraid that next week when I've conquered this crazy no-sugar diet, I may just have a huge relapse and stuff myself silly with everything I've denied myself [end of tangent].

There are still apples left in my box. Some apple crisp just may be in the works tonight.

In case you were interested in those apple pie filling bars (I never did get the correct name for them), here's the recipe:

Fruit Pie Bars

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
3 c. flour

2 c. pie filling (or any fruit, sweetened and thickened)

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add almond, vanilla, and flour. Spread 2/3 of the batter onto greased cookie sheet. ( I just use parchment paper.) Spread pie filling over batter. Drop the remaining batter by spoonfuls over the top of the filling. Don’t worry that it doesn’t look pretty. It will puff up. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Just until the edges are a light golden brown. After you take it out, let it cool then drizzle icing over the top.

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar
1– 2 T. milk